Global PC shipments decline to lowest level since 2009

Bill Roberson/Digital TrendsThe International Data Corporation‘s worldwide quarterly PC Tracker revealed on April 9 that global PC shipments totaled 68.5 million units in the first quarter of 2015. This marks a 6.7 percent decline year-on-year. This is the lowest recorded volume since the first quarter of 2009.

“Although shipments did exceed an already cautious forecast, the market unfortunately remains heavily dependent on pricing being a major driver, with entry SKU volume masking a still tenuous demand for higher priced systems that is needed to sustain a more diverse PC ecosystem,” said Jay Chou, senior research analyst. “Pricing pressure is bringing many premium SKUs into formerly mid-level pricing tiers.”

In the U.S., shipments totaled 14.2 million PCs in the first quarter of the year. This marks a one percent decrease from the same quarter in 2014. Results show that consumers have started buying more portable systems, such as Chromebooks.

Out of all PC manufacturers, Lenovo shined above the rest. The company managed to sell 13.4 million units in the first quarter of 13.4 million, making it the most successful vendor of the first quarter. HP came in second place with 13 million PCs sold, while Dell took third place with 9.2 million units.

Rajani Singh, senior research analyst at IDC’s Personal Computing division, believes that there is potential for the market to swing in the other direction. Microsoft may play a key role in creating positive change.

“The upcoming launch of Windows 10 will consolidate the best of Windows 7 and Windows 8.1,” Singh said. “In addition to the free upgrade for consumers for a year after the release, Windows 10 should be a net positive as there is pent-up demand for replacements of older PCs. Only part of the installed base needs to replace systems to keep the overall growth rate above zero for rest of the year.”

Sounds optimistic, but anything would be better than the recent trend of consistent year-over-year declines.

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